By design, the Internet combines two opposing aspects: On one hand, it works in a highly decentralised manner, allowing easy expansion and replacement; on the other hand, it has become a central unifying force for global information exchange. This paradox yields a constant stream of new problems and solutions, easily demonstrated by the range of projects within the FIRE initiative. In the meantime, embedded computing has also seen a tremendous development, using tiny autonomous devices to build distributed sensing systems. However, limited node capabilities and the tedious task of implementing applications still make it demanding to integrate them into large and powerful distributed networks. Hence, sensor networks and related areas still give rise to a large spectrum of research problems. Only very recently, serious attempts have been made to integrate these two long-lost relatives; one such activity is the project WISEBED. Building on the experimental facilities developed in WISEBED and consisting of a tightly knit team of experts in semantics, embedded systems, middleware, algorithms, and two cutting-edge SMEs, SPITFIRE endeavours to go one step further towards progress that can be felt by the general public. The overall objective is to investigate unified concepts, methods, and software infrastructures for the efficient development of applications that span and integrate the Internet and the embedded world. Thus, SPITFIRE will drastically lower the effort required for developing robust, interoperable, and scalable applications in the Internet of Things (IoT). The embedded component of the IoT is largely affected by its surrounding real-world environment. Therefore, experimentation on real platforms in realistic environments is a key for successful IoT research. The FIRE initiative and its large-scale experimental facilities provide the unique opportunity to evaluate and drive SPITFIRE research at scale and in a realistic environment.